


Our Hands Were Cold (Our Hearts Warm)

by carmillalives (wvrlyearp)



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, i'm trash, winter fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 18:51:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2822480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wvrlyearp/pseuds/carmillalives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of wintery Hollstein one shots, b/c i am garbage master supreme</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Carmilla wakes up to the sounds of Laura jumping around their shared dorm room in excitement. This isn't exactly the first time really, but she groans in mock annoyance anyways and rolls over on the bed, blinking deliberately and sighing.  
"If I'm not making you so excited, what in the world is?" She jests, smirking at Laura as she sits up in her bed, running a hand through her mussed hair.  
"It's snowing!" exclaims her excitable roommate, flinging open the curtains fully and nearly squealing with glee. Carmilla smiles and shakes her head as Laura throws a scarf around her neck and rifles through the closet for her jacket, so bouncy and excited that it seems as if she might just about burst. As she stuffs one arm into her jacket, she uses the other to grab Carmilla's hand and pull her roughly out of her bed. Groaning  half-heartedly, she allows herself to be removed from the warm cocoon of her blankets out into the shockingly cold air of the room. She grimaces as her bare feet touch the cool floor, shifting her weight from foot to foot and rubbing her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm herself up.  
"I'm not going outside with you." She says pointedly as Laura throws various items of clothing at her.  
The other girl smiles at her as she tosses her a pair of thick socks, which she catches without thinking.  
"Yes you are." She says, sauntering over to her girlfriend and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. Carmilla raises her eyebrows and bends down to pick up the fallen items of clothing, muttering a "fine" as she makes her way to the bathroom, grumbling and rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes as she does so.  
"The things I do for love..." she mutters as she swings the bathroom door shut to the sounds of Laura laughing quietly.  
  
    "I look ridiculous." Carmilla says as they step outside into the falling snow, her hand clasped tightly in Laura's.  
"You do not. And besides, you hate to be cold." Laura says, reaching a hand over and tugging the knit hat which Carmilla is wearing down slightly as Carmilla grimaces, trying desperately to smooth down her hair. (She doesn't really care about it, but she has a reputation to uphold).  
Carmilla hesitates as they get fully outside and the snow hits her.  
Laura laughs and tugs on her hand.  
"Come on," she says, turning around to face Carmilla. "a little snow never hurt anyone."  
Carmilla shrugs as she threads her arms around Laura's waist.  
"A snowstorm in 1888 killed nearly 400 people in the Northeastern United States." she says, pulling Laura closer to her.  
"You know that's not what I-"  
"And let's not forget the 310 people that died in 'The Storm of the Century' in '93..." she continues, laughing at her own macabre joke.  
Laura rolls her eyes.  
"In fact, I really think it's too dangerous to be outside." she whispers, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Laura's lips.  
''Why don't we stay in? Do... other things." she raises her eyebrows suggestively and leans in for another kiss. Laura pulls back after a second, removing herself from Carmilla's hold and grabbing her hand.  
"Maybe later." she laughs, pulling Carmilla out into ankle deep snow to the sounds of grumbling behind her.  
They walk through the freshly fallen snow, blazing a trail with their boot-clad feet. Carmilla has never enjoyed the snow. It's cold and it's wet and once you've lived for 300 years, white flakes falling from the sky hardly have a sense of wonder anymore. But she's found that with Laura, she can enjoy just about anything. And right now her hand is clasped in her girlfriend's and Laura has stopped in the middle of campus to look up at the sky with laughter in her eyes and maybe just maybe the cold and the snow aren't so bad after all. Laura sticks out her tongue and tries to catch the sparsely falling snowflakes, laughing when one falls directly on the tip of her nose. And Carmilla knows she loves Laura, has felt it in her heart since practically the first time she set eyes on the girl. But it's little moments like this, when Laura looks so young and so peaceful and happy that Carmilla somehow finds herself falling in love a little bit more, even if that doesn't quite seem possible.  
Lost in her thoughts, she hardly notices when their linked hands find their way into Laura's jacket pocket. She glances at Laura (who has eyelashes full of snowflakes and a smile that could melt them) and smirks as Laura shrugs.  
"My hands were cold." she adds another shrug and strokes her thumb over Carmilla's inside her pocket.  
(It's only then that Carmilla notices that, despite all her planning for the outdoors, Laura has forgotten to wear gloves.) She snickers.  
"So you're telling me that you're wearing two pairs of socks, but you forgot mittens?" she laughs again as Laura nods sheepishly.  
"You're ridiculous, cupcake."  
Laura burrows their hands deeper in her pocket and starts to turn back towards their dorm before Carmilla stops her, turning her around and placing her other hand in Laura's pocket before leaning in for a kiss.  
She pulls away after a moment and rests her cold forehead on Laura's.  
"250 people died in a snowstorm off the Great Lakes in 1913." She whispers as Laura groans and rolls her eyes.  
"You're the worst." Laura mutters as she starts off towards their dorm again, following the same path back that they had forged earlier.  
"You love it." Carmilla insists, trying hard to think of other snowstorm facts to pepper Laura with.  
Their hands are warm in her pocket.  
  



	2. Chapter 2

so on some post i saw the idea for a "you slipped on a patch of ice and i happened to be walking behind you and you fell into my arms wow you’re really attractive au" and like so hollstein happened  
  
    In retrospect you probably shouldn't have been running on a day where they had sent out emails to every student about the inclement weather and warned about patches of ice around campus. But you had woken up incredibly late and even after knowing that you were late, getting out of bed had been a struggle which had almost proven to be too much. So yes, you was running. Or at least you were running until suddenly your feet slid out from under you and you found yourself flying through the air. You brace yourself for the impact of slamming your head on the pavement, but the impact never comes.   
  
    Instead you find yourself sprawled out on the ground with stinging elbows, your head cradled in the hands of easily the most beautiful girl who you've ever seen. The Girl has these beautiful eyes and all this dark hair which is spilling out of a strategically placed beanie on her head and she's smirking at you and you wonder if maybe you did actually just smack your head on the pavement and pass out. She's looking at you inquisitively and you can tell that she's trying not to laugh at you as you lie on the ground with your head in her mittened hands.   
"Um. Hi." You say, almost cringing at the squeak in your own voice. Get it together, Hollis you think, mentally chastising yourself for embarrassing yourself in front of this beautiful specimen of a human being. The Girl smiles at you and you're pretty sure you've officially fallen head over heels in love with her.   
"Hey cutie." She responds, (and your heart almost explodes out of your chest) helping you into a sitting position. You rub a smarting elbow and crack an apprehensive smile at her, opening your mouth to say something but failing to find any words. You sit there with your mouth hanging open for a moment before muttering a quiet  
"Um, thanks for saving me." and mentally berating yourself again for absolutely not knowing how to speak with cute girls. The Girl smiles again and you remind yourself to thank her parents for their genes if you ever meet them.   
"I would hardly call it saving," She says, moving to gather up one of your fallen books. "but you're welcome anyways."   
She shakes some snow off of the book and places it in your hands before standing up and offering you a hand. You take it and she helps you to your feet, wincing slightly as you notice that your butt like really hurts.   
"So, where's the fire?" She asks, smirking that stupidly beautiful smirk again. You don't respond except for a vague noise of questioning because you don't really understand the question and also you're mesmerized by how absolutely freaking gorgeous she is.   
"You were running?" she prompts again with a hint of laughter in her voice.   
"Oh! I was um. Late for class." You say, glancing down at your watch because if you weren't going to be late before, you definitely are now.   
"Didn't you get the email?" she jests, cocking her head to the side and gracefully slipping her hands into her pockets.   
Following her lead, you stuff your hands into your pockets and grimace at your own lack of gracefulness.   
"Well... yes?" You respond, blushing and staring at the ground.   
"How rebellious." She chuckles, and if it's possible for your face to get even redder than it already is it definitely does.   
"I'm Carmilla by the way," She continues, sticking out a hand in greeting. "and you are..?"   
With a great deal of difficulty you manage to extract your hand from your pocket and place it in hers, shaking it probably more vigorously than is necessarily needed.   
"Laura." You say, ending the probably too long handshake. "Hollis." You add, almost immediately regretting it because she'd only given her first name and now you'd given both your first and your  last names and probably shot any chance of this girl ever thinking you were cool.   
"Well Laura Hollis," Carmilla says with another patented half-smile, "don't let me keep you from your academics."   
You nod and turn to walk away before almost slipping on the ice again, but this time Carmilla is directly behind you and able to catch you by the arm before you plummet to the ground.   
She laughs as you straighten up and take a step back away from the ice.   
"Then again," she muses, "it seems like you may be a hazard to yourself and those around you. Maybe I ought to keep an eye on you."  
(You wonder how you've seemingly met the most perfect person on the planet)  
"Are you volunteering to walk me to class?" You ask sheepishly, noticing that her hand is still wrapped around your bicep. She shrugs,   
"I was thinking more like I could take you to go get coffee. We should keep an eye on those elbows, really. I was being awfully reckless before." You inwardly do a little happy dance because that sounds an awful lot like a date.   
"If you don't mind skipping class, that is."   
And a part of you really does mind skipping class but you're not about to sacrifice a maybe-date with a beautiful girl just to go to a lecture and also maybe you want to show her that you've got even a little bit of badass in you. (Although you think you may have ruined that opportunity when you gave her both your names instead of one).   
"Of course not! I mean- Not of course I don't want to go. I would love to go. I wouldn't mind skipping class." You stammer, and yup, she definitely doesn't think you're cool.   
She smiles at you and turns in the opposite direction of where you were headed before.   
"Shall we then?" She says, bowing slightly as she links her arm through yours. It's adorable and very Pride and Prejudice and if you weren't already 200% in love with Carmilla you are now.   
"Okay." You squeak out, and she seems to laugh at your nervousness as she starts walking towards the nearest coffee place.   
You spend the next few hours with her, mostly just loitering in the coffee place. You learn that she's a Philosophy major and that she takes her coffee black and that while she personally isn't a fan of Faulkner, she can see why others would appreciate his writing. She's just as interested in literature as you are and you discuss the likability of Holden Caulfield and whether or not the ending of Great Expectations is a total copout or not. (She says it isn't, but you sort of disagree). She scolds you for never having read The Sun Also Rises, and makes you promise that you'll read it and call her when you have. You agree and your heart skips a beat because she gives you her phone number and girls giving you their phone number is usually a good sign. Before you leave, the two of you make plans to meet mid-week in the same coffee shop that you're in now and she kisses you on the cheek and laughs at your blush as she walks out the door.   
When you meet her there the next Wednesday with a black coffee already ready and half of the book already read and she smiles at you and asks you out on a dinner date at the end of the afternoon, you can't help but be glad that you'd woken up late that morning.   
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hollstein w/ 100% more ice skating and fluff

    Of course Carmilla can ice skate. Because really, what can't she do? You've really yet to find anything that she's bad at, besides getting up in the morning, and even that is understandable because like, she's nocturnal or whatever. It had been your idea of course, the ice skating. But you thought there would be more of neither of you knowing how to stand up on the ice and less of Carmilla flawlessly skating circles around you as you desperately clung to the side of the rink and tried not to fall on your butt again. She laughs as she skates by you again, this time going backwards because she's stupid and perfect.   
"C'mon cutie!" She calls after you, "If you don't get off the side now you never will!"   
And you know she's probably right but you're a little busy feeling self-absorbed right now so you don't grace her with any sort of response, instead choosing to continue to shuffle along at a snail-like pace and clinging to the sides. In an inhuman amount of time, she's made it around the rink again and is standing beside you, holding out her hands.   
"Come on then." She says, laughing as you huff out a breath into your thick scarf before taking her hands.   
"Stupid perfect vampire." You mutter under your breath, squeaking as she drags you out onto the ice. It's scary and you're afraid that you might fall but she has both your hands and she's laughing and you've hardly ever seen her look as young as she does now. You skate around with her for a bit, she laughs and murmurs encouragements to you as you stumble about, almost falling down approximately every six seconds. After a while you've managed to sort of get the hang of it as long as she holds on to your hands and she praises you and tells you that you're doing a great job (even though you're pretty sure you're not).   
"I'm gonna let go now." She says suddenly, loosening her grip on your hands. You widen your eyes and you're about to protest when she lets go of your hands and glides off to the side, and you would yell at her but you're really trying to focus on staying upright because you really don't want to fall down again. And then you're doing it. You're actually really sort of skating and Carmilla lets out a little shout of surprise behind you and you teeter a little but but manage to stay standing until you reach a wall.   
Rushing over to you with a smile on her face, Carmilla gives you a thumbs up with one mittened hand.   
"Great job, babe!" She exclaims, kissing you chastely as you both cling to the wall to stay upright. You see people giving you looks as you kiss her again but you honestly don't really care. She pulls back and quirks an eyebrow at you, sliding her hands down your arms to interlock with yours.   
"Do you wanna try again?" She asks with a squeeze of your hands, and really all you want to do is make out with her.   
You shake your head,  
"I really don't want to push my luck." (By which of course you mean that you're really not interested in falling on your ass for the 5 millionth time that evening. You're pretty sure you're already starting to get bruises in unfortunate places). But the place is pretty enough and the stars are out and there's all these twinkly lights strung up around the outdoor rink so you really don't see a reason to leave. Carmilla smiles at you and seems to understand what you're thinking without you having said much of anything. She leads you off of the ice and makes sure you don't fall down again, even going as far as untying your ice skates for you so you don't trip while trying to take them off.   
She buys you a hot chocolate from a vendor near the rink and you sit on a bench in the cool night air with her arm around your shoulders. She points out the constellations and says things about stars that you don't quite understand but you love to hear from her mouth.   
In a moment of silence,  you look over to see her breathing out heavily into the cold night air, watching in something akin to wonder as her breath crystallizes in the air. She shrugs when she sees you staring and does it again, watching as another breath becomes immortalized in the air.    
"It makes me feel more alive." She says, and you can hear a hint of sadness in her voice that makes your heart twinge painfully in your chest. You lean over and try your best to kiss her sadness away.   
She has years of damage and enough baggage to sink an ocean liner, you know that. But when she kisses you on the nose on a dark night and tells you that you did a great job ice skating when you know for a fact that you were terrible, you can see how nothing over the years has managed to deplete her capacity for love. You would never say it to her because she would scoff and tell you you were wrong, but she probably possesses the biggest heart of anybody that you know.   
You sit on the bench for a long time, watching as the sky clouds over and more and more people go home from the ice rink for the night. Ever since you had discussed your mother's death and your subsequent aversion to cars, Carmilla had avoided making you ever get in one, so you had walked all the way to the rink despite the cold weather. It's late as you begin your long walk back to the dorms hand in hand, your body a little sore and your hands a little cold but content to be with the girl you love.   
As it begins to snow Carmilla turns her head up towards the sky and smiles as snowflakes land in her eyelashes. You fall in love all over again.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> want more wintery hollstein things? shoot me an ask @carmillalives on tumblr!


End file.
